Yanko Design - Form Beyond Function

The complete antithesis of the iPhone

Posted: 01 Dec 2017 06:47 AM PST

The PocketC.H.I.P. is basically the one gadget I wished I had when I was 12. There’s so much to love about everything that constitutes the PocketC.H.I.P. from its bare, exposed design highly reminiscent of Teenage Engineering’s Pocket Operator synths, to the small hexagonal hole in the bottom left corner that allows you to slide pencils on and make the PocketC.H.I.P. stand upright. It isn’t just the outer aesthetic that appeals to the senses, it’s also the fact that the PocketC.H.I.P. is a completely consolidated and capable P.C. that can literally fit in your pocket or hang from your neck.

“The PocketCHIP is like a 2007 pocket PC from an alternate timeline where the iPhone never existed.” says Paul Miller of The Verge, and he’s right. The tiny device runs Linux and comes with a full tactile Qwerty keyboard and even a touch-sensitive screen. In every sense of the term, it’s a device that’s the complete opposite of the iPhone. Meant for people who love to tinker with hardware and software, the PocketC.H.I.P. (yes it’s a pain typing the name) comes with no restrictions or boundaries. It can be used for anything from coding, to gaming (using PICO-8’s inbuilt games or playing games like DOOM or Minecraft). You can even use it as a regular computer, connecting peripherals to it via USB… and most importantly, it comes with a headphone jack!

Click here to read more about what the PocketC.H.I.P. is capable of.

Designer: Next Thing Co.

A Pot for Thirsty Plants

Posted: 01 Dec 2017 04:00 AM PST

Is your green thumb more like the kiss of death?! If so, the Lander Planter is for you. Forgetting to water is the number one killer of houseplants. This design’s its unique self-watering system ensures yours will always have the hydration it needs… all without any pumps or mechanical parts! In porcelain and wood, it’s also pretty to look at!

It works via capillary action. Water slowly moves up from the reservoir base through the nylon wick to keep the soil wet. While it’s ideal for plants that require wet soil, it can also be used for traditional watering in which you pour directly on the soil. Any excess water will be caught in the porcelain reservoir to avoid any mess. Whichever type of plant you’ve got, you can also use the Lander Planter to keep it watered when you go out of town!

Designer: Modest Matter

Designed to deliver!

Posted: 01 Dec 2017 12:00 AM PST

I find myself seeing more Amazon packages being delivered than ordinary postage these days. And with all the hype around delivery drones at the moment, it’s an exciting space to keep an eye on. Recently we saw German postal company Deutsche Post adopt the PostBOT delivery assistant – However, I think they’ll be quick to embrace Cifu, the urban delivery drone. Packed full of sensors and designed to tackle anything in its way, the Cifu is an aesthetically pleasing drone from any angle. Given the curvaceous design language of the Cifu, it’s hard not to see similarities in design language here with the SMEG home appliances. The Cifu was carefully thought out and configures a smartly layered effect of features, broken up by different materials/colors. The bottom consists of LED lighting strips and four reinforced aero wheels while the battery pack is then located on the undercarriage. The central grey section contains the antenna and also the proximity sensors located on the front of the drone. The top section is the most excitable one at that, housing the front and rear cameras, the side message screen, and the clean open/close cover to the drone itself.

Designer: Matteo Gentile

Radio with a shape like no other

Posted: 30 Nov 2017 03:36 PM PST

With the speaker market becoming ever so more densely populated, it’s as though semantics and novelties have gone out the window regarding eye-catching differential design. Jimin Lee has designed the iO Radio in the hope of bringing the romance and novel design back into audio electronics. As an abbreviation of Input & Output, this radio has intuitive usability incorporated with alphabet “I” and “O” shape of input part (volume control, channel select) and the output part (speaker). “IO’ helps you to experience new usability, not as controlling buttons or wheels of standard radios. It’s hard to neglect the similarities and nuances between the iO and the Memphis 2.0 design movement. It’s hard to invent a new aesthetic/design movement, and that’s probably why it happens so infrequently. However, that did not stop a young Milanese (Ettore Sottsass) and a small group of other European designers from giving it a real shot. In 1981, their Memphis aesthetic debuted at the Salone del Mobile furniture fair to great acclaim. Apparently inspired by this Bob Dylan song, Memphis was undeniably playful, light-hearted, animated, and chaotic.

Making a warmly welcomed return, the Memphis design aesthetic can be seen in Jimin Lee’s iO Radio. The subtleties are so intricately sprinkled amongst the radio – the pastel colors chosen for the collection and the cones used for varying the volume by a simple twist and controlling the frequency by moving the cone up and down the shaft itself. The iO is a fun interpretation of the radio and certainly steps out from the crowd.

Designer: Jimin Lee

Alexa, meet Jim, the Whiskey Dispenser

Posted: 30 Nov 2017 02:13 PM PST

With the world going Amazon Alexa crazy, Jim Beam is bringing out their own smart device – JIM, the smart decanter. That’s right, a smart whiskey decanter. It is to be believed the decanter has built-in voice control system which allows the user to command the device to pour a shot of whiskey from across the room. The recordings aren’t a generic voice; they are of Fred Noe, a master distiller at Jim Beam. It may appear as though JIM is somewhat of a gag against the recent worldwide infatuation with smart home products, but that isn’t to say that JIM won’t be as big of a hit. With Christmas just around the corner, I can’t help but think this would be the perfect gift to get that one friend who ‘thinks’ they’re a whiskey guru.

Designer: Jim Beam

Two beverages, one filter!

Posted: 30 Nov 2017 12:21 PM PST

The two most consumed beverages in the world… Both brewed by one single device! The Twin Carafe is a carafe and filter attachment that works for both tea as well as coffee brewing! The silicone attachment sits in a borosilicate carafe/jar, acting as a coffee dripping apparatus that you place your filter into. However, it can also be used to brew tea! The ridges on the underside of the silicone piece acts as filters, stopping the leaves from leaving the carafe as you pour your brewed tea out. The borosilicate carafe has a rather wide mouth that’s easy to clean while the glass itself can withstand high temperatures. The silicone attachment works flawlessly at high temperatures too, and is completely dishwasher friendly.

No matter whether you’re a tea person or a coffee person, the Twin Carafe checks both boxes… and looks rather exquisitely minimal while doing so too!

Designer: Studio Gorm

BUY NOW

BUY NOW